Abstract : We have long recognized that military installations are a vital economic resource for communities. In fact, they are often the single largest employer in a region. But military installations also contribute to the social, political, and environmental fabric of a community. They play a key role in protecting the air and water and in conserving our land and energy resources. We in the Department of Defense are committed to being good neighbors and good stewards of the resources we use in carrying out our national defense mission. Today I want to do three things. First, I want to recognize and thank the thousands of DoD employees who are on the front lines in executing the Department's Environmental Security programs; I want to congratulate the award winners we have here today; and I want to share a few of my own thoughts on some of the important contributions DoD's Environmental Security program is making. I want to start out by saying that Environmental Security is critical to the defense mission, and to the three primary objectives of the Secretary of Defense: Readiness, Quality of Life, and Modernization.